The social media landscape is shifting. Economic challenges, new competition, and governmental scrutiny are pushing the major global platforms in different directions.

The UK is seeing stagnant social network user growth. But while reach remains huge, marketers should look at how their target markets are spread across platforms because this is where the real change is happening.

Nearly 80% of the world’s internet users are on social media. This landscape is still dominated by Meta in most markets, but use and ad spend is shifting away from Facebook and toward TikTok. Here are five charts capturing the worldwide state of social.

Nearly 50% of social network users in Thailand will be TikTok users, giving the country the highest TikTok penetration in the world, according to our forecast. The US will rank second, with 45.3% of its social users on TikTok. We expect penetration in the US will be as high as 49.1% by the end of 2026.

TikTok steps up its PR in the US capital: It’s hard for a Chinese company to make friends on the Hill, but it won’t be for lack of trying.

Facebook and YouTube will still be the top US social media platforms for buying ads or monetizing content this year, though their dominance is eroding, according to October 2022 polling by Integral Ad Science.

Our latest forecast for social network users in Canada highlights a reshuffling of the top five platforms in 2023. Twitter will fall to fifth place, while TikTok will surge into the No. 3 position.

It’s easy to be pessimistic about the state of social media in 2023. But while challenges will persist, the shifting landscape will also give rise to more opportunities for marketers to reach social audiences.

TikTok bans in colleges go viral: The fallout from students and teachers could be indicative of wider pushback against banning the app.

Facing signal loss and challenging macroeconomic conditions, advertisers are pumping the brakes on social network ad spending. But social video is shining through the gloom.

Elon Musk’s reign over Twitter stirs chaos and user losses in Asia-Pacific. The region is propping up Facebook user growth that is flagging in most of the world. And TikTok is looming large among marketers as its popularity skyrockets.

It will be another turbulent year for social media in Latin America. As the number of users nears 400 million, declines at Facebook and Twitter will have profound, long-lasting implications for the region’s two biggest markets: Brazil and Mexico.

TikTok broadens effort to call out state-controlled media: US, China among countries added to labeling program in bid for greater transparency.

TikTok isn’t solely driven by its famous algorithm: ByteDance employees can make posts go viral without any disclosures.

Gen Z will represent 20% of the US population in 2023, and nearly 40 million of these Gen Zers are adults. This is the data you need to understand how to reach them—and tap their growing buying power.

TikTok’s recommendation oversight could usher in a new era for social media: The embattled app promised regulators access to its algorithm, which could mean similar changes for competitors.

Pinterest was seen as the safest social media platform in the US last year, though the percentage of users who held that view declined from 2020 (51% versus 41%), according to our “US Digital Trust Benchmark 2022” report. Meanwhile, Facebook was where the lowest percentage of users felt safe, down to just 26% in 2022.

Content creation is changing as platforms share ad revenues with creators and all content becomes monetizable. “That’s going to send a wave of quick-hit, low-value content across social media as creators scramble to get more content out,” said our analyst Jasmine Enberg. Enberg predicts smaller creators will shift strategies as they try to earn more from their content.

Amid global economic gloom, Asia-Pacific remains a region of digital opportunities in 2023, highlighted by the increasing momentum of the metaverse in China, surging retail sales in India, and burgeoning livestream commerce in Indonesia.

On today’s episode, we discuss what a looming Netflix and TikTok rivalry might look like, the potential consequences of monetizing influencer marketing on the social landscape, how the rise of retail media will affect social platforms, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Jasmine Enberg and Debra Aho Williamson.